Dealing with Call Reluctance Part 3 – “No’s” They aren’t always a bad thing

In reviewing our case study of Tom, he is outgoing with an engaging personality, relates well to people, and presents the persona of what a salesperson should be in the eyes of many.  What we found most interesting is that many times Tom would go through an attitudinal change when he was in a selling scenario, primarily in the prospecting phase.  We discovered that Tom had a negative view of salespeople, even though he was in the profession.  This view affected his ability to communicate when he donned his “sales hat.” He did not realize that his negative attitude was having an effect on his ability to create lead generation by his reluctance to use the phone or to interface with a potential prospect.  Simply said, he couldn’t handle the rejection that stems from the “no” that is so very much a part of the selling arena.

            He really liked the service he represented and believed that it could solve other people’s problems but his own negative connotation of salespeople made it difficult for him to reach out in the prospecting phase and create new opportunities.  He was, in essence, afraid of the rejection even though he knew what he was selling had all the componets of a problem solving service.  To help him overcome this fear we had to introduce and teach Tom the concept of a “good no.”  Once we got him to understand and realize that not every "no" is necessarily bad, and should be viewed as a learning experience, we were able to change the view in which he saw the sales arena.  He had begun the transition from salesperson to problem solver. When he took off the “sales hat” and began the process of seeking out situations in which he could affect potential clients in a positive way he was then able to make some dramatic changes.  The phone became his friend, and afforded him the opportunity to get in front of those that were struggling with issues that he knew he could solve. More importantly, he became a different person in the selling scenario by conducting interviews that helped him to discover if he could be of help.

He was no longer plagued by a situation in which he was affected by call reluctance because now he could see and understand that his service may not be a great fit for every person but instead could build from these “good no’s” and have more confidence in generating new opportunities. This change did not and will not occur overnight.  Through continued positive reinforcement these changes were able to sink in and helped Tom to view sales through a new lens and have much greater success than he had previously experienced.

           

Next week we will wrap up the story of Tom and call reluctance, by further discussing “good no’s” and the four situations that occur at the end of any selling situation. 

What's New at Levi, Inc!

First off I'd like to thank you all for your continued support and we’ll be adding some fresh, new Sales Tips, adding new articles and events on our Facebook page, and will be posting insightful business tips on our Twitter page. 

If you haven’t noticed we’ve recently been making some changes here at Levi, Inc regarding our stance on social media.  We have started our own High-Performance sales Facebook page, become a presence on LinkedIn, started our new Twitter page (@MLevi_Inc), and have completely revamped our Sales Tip of The Week Newsletter to bring an entirely new template and look to our e-mails.

Please check out and ‘Like’ our Facebook page HERE, and be sure to check it out often as we’ll be posting relevant news articles as well as sales tips and general business strategy information!

Feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn HERE, we can be found under Mike Levi, Business Advisor at Levi, Inc.

Follow us on Twitter @MLevi_Inc to get the latest and greatest sales tips delivered directly to your feed!

Lastly, I would like you all to make sure to check out our new Sales Tip of The Week format. (You can sign up HERE) We’ve put a lot of time and effort into making our newsletter aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.  And as always, our sales tips contain extremely valuable information that can be used in enhancing your business. 

We’ve really been doing some great work these days and would love if you took a few minutes to check out all of the new, exciting news coming out of Levi, Inc.  Remember, we’re in the business of building and implementing sales and growth strategies and we are here to help YOU succeed. 

We’d really like your feedback as to what topics you’d like us to write about here on our sales blog. Please comment below and let us hear your thoughts.

Thanks again,

Mike  

Dealing With Call Reluctance- Part 2

In last week’s blog we discussed the fact that call reluctance is an issue that sales people will, in most cases, have to deal with at some point in their career.  This reluctance surfaces when a person:

·         changes companies or careers

·         represents a different or new product or service that they may or may not be familiar with

·         has a series of less than successful prospecting interviews

·         realizes that the potential client you are calling on may have more product knowledge than yourself

·         has less than a positive attitude about the company they represent

·         does not fully embrace the product or service that they are selling

·         experiences a fluctuating self-image or wavering self-confidence

·         lacks confidence in certain environmental situations

·         has inadequate sales development to be competitive in the sales scenario

·         simply cannot handle the “no”

The bottom line is that the problems we experience are self- inflicted. 

For 12 years I taught the Dale Carnegie courses in effective speaking and human relations.  Over a period of 14 weeks I was able to witness the transformation of people with a fear of public speaking emerge into a more confident communicator.  For people to be successful they must have a positive experience that allows them to get out on the edge of their comfort zone to obtain a higher self-confidence.  Once this confidence is reached however, there’s still a need for continued positive reinforcement so they can persist in their personal growth.    

Last week we discussed a case study about a man who finally admitted his call reluctance was seeded in a deep rooted lack of confidence.  For simplicity’s sake of our allegory we will refer to this man as Tom.  To help Tom, we had to reinforce his self-confidence; this was a not a single positive reinforcement, but a series of multiple positive experiences. 

The saga of Tom’s transformation will continue in next week’s blog. 

Dealing with Call Reluctance: Part 1

Call reluctance is an internal feeling where one’s attitude many times interferes with a sales person’s ability to prospect effectively.  Sales people often refer to it as a fear of rejection and it is much more prevalent than many would admit.  Sales people will rarely acknowledge that it exists, but it has been a problem for many for a number of years.  Irrespective of how much sales training an individual has taken or the extent of product knowledge, there is an unspoken fear that persists despite what they sell.  This fear can be crippling to one’s business success. 

I worked with a salesman a few years ago that no matter how much sales or attitudinal training he was given, he failed to change his activity, behavior or drive to succeed.  When I inquired about his prospecting activity he was full of excuses; in fact he had become a pro beyond imagination at covering his behind.  He was the prototype in what we envision in a sales person with high energy, ability to communicate at great lengths and highly skilled in product knowledge.  He was everyone’s poster boy for what a sales person should be, and I had been brought aboard to see if we could salvage him.  His company had spent a lot of time and money in his development and he seemed to be a perfect fit, except for his lack of efficient prospecting and business development.  The process of transformation does not occur overnight.  To begin the process of his changeover I had to get to the root of his fear.  So finally, one day I asked him to level with me about what his problem was and he finally admitted that it was a deep rooted lack of confidence and self- assurance when it came to calling on potential clients. 

Next week we are going to discuss his transformation into a core confident prospector that translated into a sales person’s professional- professional.

Your Business Model--Fixing the Problem, Not the Plan

A business model is like a cube. For an effective business concept to excel, all six sides need to be vibrantly graphic, well-defined, and polished. There needs to be a nice blend of realism, do-ability, and durability complimented with a product or service that is on the forefront and positioned to effectively solve other people’s problems.

As a business advisor for 20 years, I’ve learned that in putting together an effective game plan that there is no need to rebuild the entire model. By doing a SWOT (strength-weakness-opportunity-threat) analysis one can begin to identify the strengths and weaknesses within their business plan. From there, a business must simply fix what needs to be fixed, tweak the strengths and rebuild the weak links into a plan that allows the business to maximize its potential.

Overall, I have found that most people are inherently resistant to change, but love the results that transpire when change occurs. As Anthony Robbins said, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” For example, if a certain sales piece is not producing the numbers for increasing and strengthening the top and bottom line, then it needs to be reevaluated to determine what’s missing in the sales concept and process. This requires one to think not only within the box, but to also explore outside the box for answers.

For an effective business model, all six sides of the cube must be working at capacity within a game plan that is well thought out and doable. By identifying weaknesses within the structure, a business can focus on polishing certain aspects of the plan rather than starting anew every time.

Business Development

You’ve probably heard that there is a five-year hump in getting a business started and on solid footing. That was pretty accurate 10-15 years ago and seems to be on target today. Sometimes, our businesses plateau and we struggle to continue the growth in an ever competitive business environment.

There are only three things that you can control in getting your business up and running or energizing an emerging enterprise.

1.  Attitude

I’m a great believer in the laws of attraction. If your mindset is envisioning a negative outcome instead of a positive one, you can probably count on the negative conclusion occurring. The end result will be similar to your thinking pattern. Part of making changes is sometimes rethinking your goals and objectives and setting up a doable game plan with all the right activity and behavior

2. Activity

You need to ask yourself: What are you doing everyday that is creating positive synergy to fill the funnel with possibilities, prospects, and business opportunity. Positive activity is something that you can control and is contagious once you get it going.

3. Behavior

Behavior will set a strong precedent to how you will succeed in business. I find that many times people continue to do the same thing, but expect a different outcome. If your behavior is not what you want it to be, then I would suggest making the changes that you feel are appropriate and staying with that game plan for at least 21 days to ensure the change that you’re implementing become a habit

If you can get your attitude, activity, and behavior moving in the right direction, you will be amazed at the positive outcome.

What Sales Is

Selling is a concept of communication that allows the prospect and the sales representative to discover if the product or service (p/s) represented has the wherewithal to not only solve the prospect’s issues/problem but more so afford the purchaser to move forward in a more efficient manner in relationship to their respective business.

The most important part of the selling process is the transaction phase. This is when the consummation of an agreement has been reached or you have decided not to do business or move forward for any number of reasons. But you both have come to the conclusion that the p/s is not a good fit, which is ok.

Only four things happen in a sales scenario:

·         a yes

·         a no

·         a crystal-clear future

·         a lesson

To which all four are positive

I talked with a sales manager last week in which he shared with me that his sales people have a problem with closing, or consummating a transaction. It surprised him when I shared that the closing was not the problem and that it is actually the easiest aspect of the sales process. The failure took place when the price based on the values did not transcend one another which can be a common occurrence for those that have not developed a systematic process to selling.